The invention relates to food holders for holding a food article while being heated in a cooking device. The invention is particularly useful for holding meat products, such as steaks, hamburgers, and the like, in a grilling appliance, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,003,436 and 6,109,169, and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/135,331, filed May 24, 2005, the contents of which patents and patent application are incorporated herein by reference.
The above-cited US Patent Application describes a cooking appliance which includes a base for supporting the cooking appliance on a horizontal surface; and a pair of cooking plates pivotally mounted on the base to various angular positions including a vertical position with respect to the base. As described therein, such a grilling appliance permits food articles, particularly meat products, to be grilled in a very short period of time. Further details of the construction and operation of such a cooking appliance are set forth in the above-cited US Patent Application, whose contents are incorporated herein by reference.
While the invention is particularly useful as a food holder in a grilling appliance as described above, it will be appreciated that it could also be used in many other appliances, e.g., for holding vegetables to be steamed.